Aquafortus

About Aquafortus

Aquafortus is a water technology company, founded in New Zealand in 2015, that provides solutions for treating highly saline industrial wastewater. The company operates in the Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) market, which is driven by global regulations compelling industries to recover nearly all water from their wastewater streams. Aquafortus targets clients in water-intensive sectors such as mining, oil and gas, chemical manufacturing, and power generation. The company's business model appears to be centered on licensing its technology and selling proprietary chemical consumables.

The company was founded by Daryl Joseph Briggs, Andrew West, and Stewart Edward Taylor. The journey of Aquafortus includes several key milestones, starting with its first funding in September 2016 and the introduction of its ZLD technology to the market in early 2018. The company built its first ZLD pilot plant in February 2018 and signed its first customer, US-based oil and gas licensee PetroH2O, in April of the same year. This was followed by a significant licensing agreement with PetroH2O valued at USD $40 million over three years. As part of its growth, Aquafortus became a US Delaware Corporation in 2021 to access larger capital pools. The company has raised a total of $24.5M over two funding rounds, including a $17M Series A1 round in February 2023 led by DCVC and Novo Holdings.

Aquafortus has developed the ABX™ system, a non-thermal, liquid-to-liquid crystallizer designed to separate salts from brine. The process works by using a patented chemical solution, the Aquafortus Absorbent, which extracts water from the brine, causing salts to crystallize. A second patented chemical, the Aquafortus Regenerant, is then used to recover the water from the absorbent for continuous reuse. This system can recover up to 98% of the clean water and reduces the waste to a dry, transportable salt cake. A key benefit of the ABX™ system is its energy efficiency; by avoiding thermal processes, it can reduce operational expenditures by up to 60% and energy use by 90% compared to traditional thermal crystallizers. The technology is also capable of recovering valuable minerals, such as lithium, from the wastewater, creating an additional value stream for clients.